We are thankful and flattered that we were asked to cover the Season 7 premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7 highlights. We are not sure how the usual is done, but we will cover the new judges, the new cast and who we think should continue on.
First, let's look at the new judges. As sad as we are to see Santino Rice leave the show this season, we are happy to have Carson Cressley take over as a judge. If there was someone that could deliver snarky and sharp criticism to the queen's clothing, it's him.
This season opened, as they all do, with the introduction of the queens, most notably for us in Nashville is our own Jaidynn Diore Fierce! We are sure that everyone knows this fierce queen, but if not, she is a local entertainer at Play Dance Bar and an important part of our community.
Other stand-out queens included Miss Fame, Violet Chachki, Katya, Kennedy Davenport and our personal favorite to look at in boy-mode, Pearl. Looking toward the middle of the pack, your queens include Max, Kandy Ho, Jasmine Masters and possibly Trixie Mattel. Unfortunately, running the bottom of the pack are the queens who didn't quite seem to showcase enough: Ginger Minj, Sasha Bell, Tempest Dujour and Miss Kasha Davis. Of course, the most perfected queen is Ru.
The first challenge showcased fall and spring fashion on a runway where the queens walked fashion week runway with guest star Alaska, as Anna Wintour. We still haven't really decided why she was there... ??? The second challenge had the queens debut resortwear only to strip nude (or at least in a body suit) and let it all hang out. Well, not ALL of it. A well deserved win went to Violet Chachki! She had a fantastic reveal on the fashion week runway.
At the end of this episode, the bottom two were the Puerto Rican underdog and oldest queen, Tempest Dujour and the 'bearded' Kandy Ho (Yes. We know we didn't put her in the bottom). They performed RuPaul's "Geronimo" and Kandy sent Tempest out. Dujour didn't go without putting up a fight and gave a touching speech on never being too old to dream.
Overall, it wasn't the sort of premiere that blows you away, but we're sure it'll take off. Other than a handful of queens, they seemed like standard entertainers that we have seen come and go over the last 6 years, though we are especially looking forward to see what Pearl, Jadynn, Violet, Miss Fame and Katya will bring to the table this year.
Stay tuned for a full recap from episode one!